This invention relates to a rotary compressor, and more particularly to improvements in a separator for separating lubricating oil from a gaseous refrigerant delivered into a shell for a rotary compressor.
Rotary compressors are used in home refrigerators or home air conditioners because rotary compressors can be made in small sizes. In rotary compressors of the type referred to, however, compressed refrigerant delivered from the compression chamber thereof includes a large amount of lubricant. Feeding the compressed refrigerant including the lubricant to an associated refrigerating cycle causes a decrease in refrigerating capacity and therefore should be avoided as much as possible. To this end, conventional rotary compressors have included a separator disposed on the outside of the housing therefor to separate the lubricant from the refrigerant. Alternatively, the internal space within the shell itself can be large so that the lubricant will be spontaneously separated from the gaseous refrigerant during passage of the mixed refrigerant and lubricant through the large space. The former measure is expensive because of the provision of an additional part while the latter measure has led to the necessity of making the shell itself large-sized resulting in expensive or heavy compressors. Alternatively, the resulting compressors have not been adapted to be made in small issues.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary compressor including a new and improved separator for separating a lubricant from a gaseous refrigerant mixed with the latter inexpensively and efficiently and without using large-sized equipment.